I received my Firestone Sport Rite air bags today and found a couple flat out contradictions in the installation instructions.

1) Figure "A" and Figure "B" show the lower bracket installed to the rear of the axle. In addition, the text of the instructions for step 3 states "Place the assembly on the left side of the top of the leaf spring stack rearward of the axle. However, step 6 states "Both air helper springs will install just to the front of the axle". So, do the air bags mountbehind the axle or in front of the axle?

2) The installation instructions refer to an existing hole in the frame as the mounting point for one of the bolts for the top bracket. There is no such hole in my frame.

3) Figure "A" shows the front lip of the lower bracket to the rear of the rear most axle U-bolt nuts. Figure "B" shows the same lip in front of the rear most U-bolt. Since there is no way the bracket will install with the front lip forward of the rear most U-bolt, I'm going to assume Figure "A" is correct (Item 1 above notwithstanding).

Any help from someone who has installed these on an '05 or newer would be greatly appreciated.

Link to instructions: http://www.truckspring.com/installat...g-srin2378.pdf

 

good luck with that, i wish i could help clear it up but idk what to tell you...shatty instructions imo...idk if anyone here has them on their dakota, but home someone can shed some light. good luck

 

Figure A and Figure B both show the airbag behind the axle. Took me a second of looking at it but if you look at the arrow pointing "rear" and that it says drivers side Figure B has to be a view from underneath the truck out towards the drivers side, not from the outside looking towards the truck.

 

Yes, figure A and B agree that the air bag goes behind the axle, but at least two other places in the directions specifically state that they go in front of the axle. The problem with figure A and B is they show different locations for the lower bracket - "A" shows the front lip of the bracket to the rear of the rear mostaxle U-bolts, "B" shows the lip in front of the rear most axle U-bolts.

Diagram B is really funky because the orientation is hosed up. If you were looking at the truck on the driver's side, the arrow that says "rear" in the diagram is pointing to the front of the truck. It's actually a mirror image of what you actually would see if you were looking at the truck. Figure B also shows the axle U-bolts pointed downward, with the nuts on the ground side. My truck is like figure "A", with the nuts on top of the axle.

 

Ok, I just discovered that the printed instructions that came with the kit have a revision date of 2-05 and a part number of NAD-34381-1, but the online instructions have a revision date of 8-05 and are part number NAD-34381-2. So far the only difference I can find is that instead of saying "Both air bag helper springs will install just to the front of the rear axle", the new version says "just to the rear of" in step 6. So, apparently someone else noticed this particular problem and they updated the directions. Unfortunately, there is still a note near figure "A" that says "Both air springs are located just ahead of the vehicle's axle". I guess they missed that one.

One other point of concern for anyone considering these airbags: I have lowering shackles on the rear of my truck which prevent the air bags from achieving the proper "X" dimension refered to in the instructions. I'll have to re-install the stock shackles before I finishing the air bag installation. I'm not sure what will happen if I install the air bags with the lowering shackles, but I don't want to find out the hard way.

 

I sent you an e-mail, but just to follow up , I have 2379 for a Quad cab and it does mount above the axel, the 2378 for the Club is differant, please see the attachments in you e-mail

 

You noticed that, Hugh? I called their Tech support and asked them. Behind the axle. I pointed out the errors in the ilustrations and the guy talked to his super and said they'll get it corrected. got mine in last night. have yet to put them to use.